


Putting up fronts

by thyandra



Series: Two-years Anniversary Fanfiction Giveaway [5]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 16:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10222742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thyandra/pseuds/thyandra
Summary: Nagachika Hideyoshi was nothing but another average student like the hundreds Nishiki saw every day loitering around their shared campus, another blur in the margins of a life constantly led on the edge, and so he didn’t really think much of him upon first glance.That is, until Nagachika entered his radar for the first time.Or;That one fic that tries to explore how Nishiki realized that despite how goofy he acts, Hide's actually dangerously perceptive.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This prompt was actually pretty fun to write since I've always wondered what kind of odd relationship could Hide and Nishiki have shared before Kaneki came in the picture. It's always made me laugh how one of the reasons that Hide comes up with to dissuade Kaneki from going to Nishiki's apartment is that 'they might share some pervy talk'. That just made me think of "Bible" from the novels and how Hide chats a lot about trivial stuff when he wants to diffuse the tension that he feels in the air. And idk, this fic was born out of that.  
> Please note that I might have took some liberties with the timeline here and there. I hope the result doesn’t disappoint too much, because god do I love writing about these two! Please enjoy, if possible!

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

At first, Nishiki didn’t really think much of that weird guy from the Students’ Festival Committee. He was an underclassman, and Nishiki had never before had any reason to pay him any mind, until they were suddenly paired up for carrying boxes of some shit that apparently needed to be moved all the way to the other side of the campus. And he was glad that he hadn’t, because this guy was the chatty type, and Nishiki hated those the most. Not only that, but he also didn’t appear to get the message to just shut the fuck up when Nishiki threw him the twentieth death glare in the span of minutes, that or he was ignoring them, because he came up with more fucking questions.

Sometimes, Nishiki’s life really sucked.

After that, he kept seeing him in passing once or twice more, while wandering through the buildings on campus. He was always alone, for all the friendly act he’d kept forcing on him that one time. More often than not, he was checking his phone for new messages or sipping a cappuccino in the students’ café near Building 4, always with that absent look on his face, almost as if thinking of someone, rather than something, A girlfriend, perhaps. Nishiki suddenly pitied her. But, he reasoned with a frown that he refused to call envy, it must be nice, leading a normal, boring, privileged life just like that, he thought, seeing him hurry to this or that class with a sandwich hanging from his mouth and his bag open, flailing about to catch someone’s attention like it were second nature; it must be nice, living an ordinary life, without having to worry about which kind of company to surround yourself with or about what horse-shit human food to put in your mouth or who sees you doing it. See, Nagachika Hideyoshi was nothing but another average student like the hundreds Nishiki saw every day loitering around their shared campus, another blur in the margins of a life constantly led on the edge, and so he didn’t really think much of him upon first glance.

That is, until Nagachika entered his radar for the first time.

He was buying his favourite brand of canned coffee from the machines, when Nagachika called out to him. He turned, opening the lid of his can. “Yo. What is it, Nagachika?”

The guy scratched his neck sheepishly as he got closer. “Watanabe called me this morning,” he explained, “He’s at home with a flu and usually it wouldn’t be a problem but we needed those posters up before Friday.”

Nishiki finished his coffee with a grimace and crushed the can before tossing it away in the nearest trashcan, “And no one else can cover for him,” he glumly concluded, to which Nagachika gave him an apologetic smile.

Damn. He even had a paper due tomorrow. He could really do without wasting his afternoon going around campus. He could already feel an headache coming,

“I’m helping, so we should be done before the library’s closing hours,” Nagachika offered, correctly guessing the source of his hesitance.

Nishiki gave him a resigned look as he ran his hand through his hair. “Just let me drop my bag in my dorm room,“ he conceded. “I’ll meet you in front of the Eastern Auditorium in ten.”

That had been twenty minutes ago.

Now, the walk to the music clubroom was mostly spent in silence. That wasn’t to say that Nishiki wasn’t regretting each bad decision that led him here, side by side a tone-deaf guy who apparently had no qualms in drawing amused glances by random people they passed by. That, or he was unaware of them. Still, that was better than being subjected to his equally annoying conversations. But soon, Nishiki realized that Nagachika wasn’t just a chatty type. He was weirder than that, in a way that Nishiki couldn’t quite get a read of.

As if on cue, Nagachika lowered his headphones as if realizing that this was an excellent opportunity to make Nishiki’s life hell, and started his routine of asking pointless, trivial questions. Nishiki was already massaging his temples before the guy even had the chance to open his mouth. At least they had made it to the clubroom. Soon, they’d get this over with, he hoped.

“Hey, senpai,” was how Nagachika started, giving an obnoxious lilt to the word _senpai_ , much to Nishiki’s annoyance, “What kind of music do you usually listen to?”

 _Why do you care_ , was what Nishiki wanted to answer. “Just pick the damn boxes,” was what he flatly chose to say instead, bending down to do exactly that. It wasn’t like they came here to chat.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he winced. That would be Kimi. Probably demanding to know where the hell he was, now that he thought of it, since they were supposed to meet up after her last class of the day. He fished for his phone and opened the message.

“I really like English music. I like to keep track with the lyrics, y’know?” Nagachika continued, unperturbed by the fact that Nishiki had just blatantly ignored him and his attempt at small talk. Weirdo. “Japanese music is fine too, especially those cute idol bands. I mean, who doesn’t like them? You do too, right, senpai? Those short skirts, man…” he trailed off with a dreamy sigh that Nishiki suspected was more for show than anything else.

He typed a quick reply and locked his screen again, pocketing the device. “I’m a taken man,” he drawled, to which the guy only grinned.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re so lucky! But you do have eyes, don’t you?” he promptly brushed him off, his painfully fake chipper tone never leaving his voice.

Nishiki had wondered more than once why Nagachika seemed to be so adamant about his friendly act, when in reality he didn’t seem much like the type who would get close to just anyone. Years on the streets had taught him how to recognize the signs of someone who didn’t easily open up about their life, and Nagachika fit the bill more than he probably realized, despite the casual trivia about himself he sprouted from time to time. But Nishiki would be lying if he said that he had an interest in unraveling the reasons behind his weird attitude, not if he could just conveniently ignore it as Nagachika’s problem. As long as Nishiki wasn’t directly involved, he would be glad to stay out of the guy’s way and not get mixed into whatever backstory he had to offer.

“Your girlfriend is a medicine student, right?” Nagachika asked all of a sudden.

Nishiki readjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “She is. Why d’ya ask?” _Just give me a reason to sock you one_ , he thought, recalling the turn of their conversation.

“Oh, no, it’s not what you’re thinking!” Nagachika hastily cowered, his hands flailing in midair. “The thought just struck me, and I was just wondering, y'know… If she was taking part in the protest against… how did they call it? That ‘Unethical Healthcare Abuse’. It’s all the kids seem to be talking about these days,“ he trailed off, what seemed to be a bemused expression on his face.

Nishiki dropped his shoulders. "Ah. _That_ ,” he said irritably, like the very thought was giving him an headache. “She is, actually,” he confirmed.

Nagachika glanced at him curiously from behind the box in his arms.

“Her whole department won’t even shut up about it. It’s kind of a big deal,” he continued. _It only was treated as such because they thought she was human_. “Looks like the donor’s family wasn’t even contacted, or some shit.” _Of course it wasn’t. Rize didn’t have any._ “It makes for a good scandal.”

Nagachika was giving him a strange look.

“What?”

He was expecting a debate on the ethics of modern medicine, or an argument about how the other guy involved was apparently saved by the operation or some other self-righteous or morally upstanding thing, because those were the two sides the media was currently split into, and humans were known to be that kind of bigots who only cared about morals and justice when they aligned with their interests. But none of it came, and Nishiki was once again left to wonder how weird of a guy Nagachika was, always defying the assumptions he made about him

“Oh. Nothing. But it’s sad, isn’t it? The way everyone talks about her case but nobody cares about who she was. It’s almost like nobody had seen her around before, and she’d vanished from everyone’s notice just as quickly after making the news.”

Nishiki almost stopped in his tracks at the accuracy of the picture that Nagachika had put together on the spot. Was that a lucky guess, or was the guy actually a lot more perceptive than he let on?

“It’s not that unheard of, I guess. People live alone all the time nowadays. It just seemed… pretty convenient to me. That nobody knew her beforehand, I mean, if that makes sense.”

“You seem awfully interested in her. What is it, having a little unrequited crush here?” he asked, both to gauge his reaction and to change the subject.

Nagachika seemed unfazed by the assumption, and he just shrugged it off with an easy smile. “I just can’t help but being curious. Campus gossip and all that,” he explained.

“So you’ve said,” Nishiki replied neutrally. He was starting to feel like Nagachika had expected to raise a few eyebrows for asking about her. It made him wonder just how deep he intended on digging into the matter.

A little bit deeper and Nishiki would’ve had to make a personal intervention. He couldn’t let the guy stick his nose into Rize’s business. Who knew how far a guy with such unassuming look could make it before someone caught wind of how dangerous of an ability that airhead facade actually was, or even what _else_ he could’ve found out before he inevitably got himself killed.

For now, he didn’t seem to be aware of Nishiki’s connection to Rize, and that was what made him ponder his next move. Despite how territorial he was, Nishiki wasn’t one to search for a fight. If he could keep his own facade up for a little while, just long enough for him to get a read of this guy and what kind of threat he could pose, if he could avoid wasting an afternoon just to get rid of his corpse, then all the better. Nishiki quite liked the set up he had at Kamii. He didn’t want the doves’ attention trained on his territory. That would be far more of a pain than keeping an eye out on Nagachika.

“So, anyway,” the guy in question began like he was resuming a previous conversation, probably following a random train of thought, his chipper tone back in place. He seemed to do that a lot. “What’s with this bright pink colour and yellow lettering?” he exclaimed, rolling a poster open just as they reached the first available notice board. “It’s hurting my eyes! How are people supposed to read this??”

“Says the eyesore. Have you looked at yourself, you dipshit?”

Nagachika made a show of looking down at the clothes he was wearing, a bright green jacket and highlighter pink pants. “That’s not the saaaame, senpai!” he whined theatrically, to which Nishiki just ignored him.

“I’m covering the east side of campus,” He announced without waiting for confirmation before leaving. “You can do the Math and Economy Buildings,” he called behind his shoulder.

“Roger!” Nagachika shouted back just as he rounded the corner. Weirdo.

As soon as he was left alone, Nishiki let out a long, worned out sigh. He’d totally read him wrong the first time, hadn’t he? He’d let himself be fooled by the simple minded front Nagachika put on and almost had it come back to bite him. He needed to be more careful from now on.

His phone buzzed again in his pocket, and he reached for it with a scowl on his face. It was Kimi.

>>Who’s Nagachika?

He hastily typed back:

<<just an annoying guy who asks too many questions. a pain in the ass

 

>>you say that about everyone

>>I’m sure you’ll warm up to him, too.

 

<<over my cold dead body

  
Or _his_ , Nishiki thought, with a finalizing frown.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always thought that whatever Hide did to set off Nishiki's alarm bells must have been pretty subtle, otherwise Nishio would have just killed him on the spot. He's the type of guy who doesn't take any risks after all. So, Rize was my first guess for that. A topic distant enough for Nishiki to dismiss immediate danger, but still dangerous enough to be wary of him.  
> Please do let me know what you thought about this fic, be it a good or a bad impression, if you're still reading this! Feedback is what motivates me to write and keeps me going, so don't be shy!
> 
> This fic was originally posted on my tumblr [here](http://bloodycarnations.tumblr.com/post/157356683914/hi-if-i-dont-remember-wrong-you-enjoyed-nishiki) in honour of my two-years anniversary in this fandom.  
> 


End file.
